Bank-vault flooring



M. BRINTNALL.

BANK VAULT'FLOOHING.

AlfPLicATloN FILED JUNE 18. 1918.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

X72 @effin/j A UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

. THOMAS M. BiaiNTNALL, OF'O'AKLAND, CALIFORNIA, AssIGNORTIor o'Nri-'i-riiiriii1 rWILLIAM H. BRINTNALL, lor, Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

BANK-VAULT FLOORING.

To all whom 'it may concern Y Be it known that I, THOMAS M BRINT- NALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements -in Bank-Vault Floorings, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to bank vault floory ings and more particularly to means whereby a vlevel-flooring communication between the interior of the vault and the main flooring of the vault room may be maintained, in accommodation of the swinging vault door. In a patent pi'eviously'issued to me, I have disclosed and claimed' a certain species of this genus, and quite broadly claimed the A. general aspects of such genus, suchpatent being iTO. 1,180,106, of April 18, 1916.

In the present case, I provide entirely different means and elements for iooring. of the same general purpose, and the parts operate in accordance with a. different specified inode of operation. Inthe prior case-,the flooringinember is mounted to move vertically into and out of position of service. In the present case, I provide a swinging flooring member, and in combination with this member utilize a further auxiliary Vflooring member which plays vertically, and is hinged in said vault proper, and swings downwardly'onto the main hinged flooring member, when the latter is in position of service. I likewise provide lsuitable counter- Weights cooperating with the main flooring member, locking means for maintaining the main flooring member in position of service, and releasing means for said locking means.

The invention has for its object the pro- 'Vision of improved means or mechanism of the character mentioned, which will be' generally superior in relative simplicity andinexpensiveness of construction and organization, taken in conjunction with positiveness and reliability .in service, convenience and Vsimplicity. in control, freedom from liability to get out of order, compactness in form and -neatness in appearance, and which will be generally superior in efficiency and serviceability.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe novel4 and useful provision, formation, combination, association, arrangement, 'mode of application' and method of'use and mode of-operation,

Figure l is ia perspectiveview of a bank .vault withv the vault door in 'open-position,- the main flooring I .closed as'located in vpositions for service.-

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1,;the bank `vault door, however,beingshown in closed position, the auxiliary. flooring member havspecifwation of Letters Patent.' Patented M5131, 1921, Application filed June 18, 1918. Serial No. 240,579. -l I I.

Vmember Aand auxiliary flooring member .of vthe invention being dising been withdrawn-within the vault,and i the main flooring member being swung vup or elevated upon its hinges, so as topermit the movement of the door. to its illustrated closedposition; fg'

Fig. -3 is a vertical section taken in .zone Vindicated by the 'line @3f-m3, Fig.y 1',

and looking` in the .direction the; adjacent arrow; and L Fig. 41s a verticalfsection, taken at right indicate-ds by angles tothe plane ofsectioiiin Fig. 3, upon theline afk-a, Fig. 3,*and vlooking in the directionofthe appended arro Corresponding parts in all the figures are designated bythe same reference characters.

Referring with particularity to the drawing, A designates :the vault opening Orentrance of a bank vault, of which B isthe .vault door, suchudoor-being hinged as at 5 to Swingin a horizontal plane so as vto open up Or-,close' the vault entrance or opening A. C designates the main' flooring-of the vault room, which .is approximatelyat `the same levelor inthe same horizontal plane with the floor D -of the `-vault.` Edesg vignates generally` the outer lwall 'of the vault Y. toward Whichthe vvision is directed; inFigs.-

1 and 2. designates the main-flooring j Vmember which is-Lutilivzed as Abetween the vault room Y flooring *C*v and the v vault floorl ing D, and which is mountedto swing in a. vertical plane, Vat aliinged line f. G des- I.

ignates anauxiliary ilo'oringgmember which is utilized in conyunction withv -the main flooring member I?, the vsame being. adapted'n v to swingv in 'af vertical plane andbeing mounted in connection with the .vault Hoorf'ing D at a hinged line` g., H'designatesa pit or depressionfin the main-flooring C, in which vpit or depressiontherdoor .B is4 ,accommodated in kits Vvswinging movements, Y the sharply beveledV formation commonto l vault i doors, to produce and secure overlapV VVbetween the edge of the door and the vault entrance, requiring thevdoor to extend below the main level of the flooring and thus necessitating such pit. The flooring member F is directly fixed to rocker arms 6 mounted upon a rock shaft 7 mounted inv bearings 8. at the extreme sides .of the pit H, at the hinge line f. The member F is adapted to` i l upwardly into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig.- 3, the counter-weight 9 swings downwardly into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3. Parallel with the shaft 7, withinthe pit H or within the downward extension h of such pit,'1s another 'rock shaft 10 carrying an extended counterweight or counter-weights 11 which coplerate lwith the counter-weight or counterweights 9, swinging in opposition to such counter-welght or counter-weights 9.V This inter-relation 1s produced by meansof cam- Yshaped dogs 12 and 13 respectively,mount ved yupon theshafts 7 and 10, and inter-connected by.V means of sprocket chains 14, such vdogs 12 and 1,3 having sprocket teeth to co- 'opera-te with such sprocket chains. 'Thus,'

the 'counter-weights 9 and-11 act in a single system, and by so subdividing the counterweight element I am enabled to obtain the same counter-weight eflicieney as though the i ycounter-weight element were entirely upon the shaft 7 and also diminish the depth of the pit H within which `these counterweights 9 and 11 play.

Beneath thee-flooring member F and extending at right angles to the rock shaft l'7, isa flooring beam 15 lwith which are -at the other VVend. .The working endA -25 such dog in the position" Yconnected pivoted` legs 16 which descend onto the flooring 17 ofthe pit H, and serve to support the flooring when in depressed. position. Certain' ofA the legs 16 descend `upon a.V false flooring member-1 8V which eX- tends transversely oli-the ypit extension Il., being supported by means of ooring beams 19 or the like, and which covers up the rock shaft 10 and its connected parts and the sprocket chain'll, such kfalse flooring eig- Vtending over thepitl extension h approximately to the rock shaft 7. A latch bar 20 isV mounted at one side wallV of the pit VH, by means of keepers 21, suchllatch bar being y urged by'a'contractile spring 22 to- Y wardone of the rockerV arms 6, such contractile springsurrounding the latch bar 20 -andgbeing pinned tro-it as ct-23 at one end'and to one of the keepers 21 a's at 24 of suchV latchV bar coperates with a face 26 yon one of the dogs-f .12, acting to hold shown in Fig. 3 and lock the rock shaft 7 so as to hold the flooring member F in the elevated posi- 'tion shown in dotted-lines in Fig. 3. This latch bar is connected Vat its flooring end, as by a pin 27, with a pivoted catch 28 mounted in the pit iiooring 17 as at 29, and also by the same pin connected with a trip lever 30 pivotally mounted upon a shaft 31 which likewise carries the pivoted catch 28. The catch 28 cooperates with a locking head 32 attached tothe flooring member F. lVhen the trip member 30 is moved in the direction of .the adjacent arrow in Fig. 3', it carries with it by means of the pin 27 the locking bar 20, and also the pivoted catch 28, releasing such catch from the locking head 32, and permitting the flooring member F to rise. "When the flooring member F has risen into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the face 26 is in position whereupon, thespring 22 is vpermitted to act, the trip member 30 being released, so that thevlocking rod 20is brought to bear at its working end 25 upon such face 26. It will be understood that the trip inember 30 isoperated to operate the catch member 28 and 'the rod 20, in the manner above .speciliecl, in opposition to the tension oi' the spring 22.` Such locking rod 2O with its said spring, and such catch member and locking head 82 and trip member 30 constitute locking and releasing means 'for the ooring member F, to lock such floor member in depressed position and release it from such position; and the working end 25 of the locking bar 20 and the face 26 constituting locking and releasing means for holding the flooring' member F in elevated position, and releasing it from such position. ln order to so release the flooring member F from elevated position, the trip member SO is `again forcedin the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 3, releasing the face 26 from the working endf25 of the locking bar. The door, responsive to a. slight pressure, will thenswing downwardly, being nicely counter-balanced, and will lock itself in depressed position, the locking' head 32 engaging with the latch 28. v

It will be. understood that the door can be freely swung .either into` open vor closed position when the flooring member F is in raised position, and after the door has been either opened lor closed the flooring member F is lowered seal the pit and provide a liooring extension over the pitrlevel with the main flooring C.Y The flooring member F is cut away as at 33 to receive thedoorV whenin opened position,ras shown in Fig. 1. `When the door is thus in opened position,

.and the flooring. member F is down, the auX- iliary' flooring member may ybe swung down from within the vault onto the flooring member F, to cover the uneven vault opening .formati-on', and `provide a substantially flush level flooring construction from the flooring C over ,the flooring member F and the flooring member G to the vault flooring D. The flooring member F may be slightly cut away so that the end may readily engage the looring member G, as shown at 34. rt will be seen that the legs 16 swing into position parallel with the edges of the licorinU member F when the latter is raised.

he operation and method of use and advantages of the invention will be readilyf understood from a consideration of the specilic embodiment thereof disclosed in the drawing and herein previously described, without any further specific recitation. It will be obvious that books, money and other valuables couldreadily be Wheeled into and out of this vault when the door is open, over the pit H, by the use of lthe present invention, and ythe ooring members G andV F are readily and conveniently operated and controlled wi-th a minimumof labor to provide the flooring extensions and formations incident to the use of the invention.

It is manifest that many variations and modifications and changes may be made in adapting the invention to varying conditions of use and service, in departure from the specific construction and organization herein disclosed and described, and shown in the drawing, without departing from the ytrue spirit of the invention and a fair interpretation thereof.

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. A flooring member adapted to be used in conjunction with a bank vault or the like having a swinging door, such flooring being mounted to swing upward and away from the vault door and to cover the pit in which the door swings; a rock shaft upon which such flooring member is mounted to so swing, and locking and releasing means for holding the floor in depressed position and freeing it from such position; said locking and releasing means comprising a locking head upon the flooring member, a catch coperating with said locking head, and trip means for operating said catch; meansv being provided tending to maintain said catch andlocking head in co-engagement, said means including a locking bar operatively connected with said catch adapted to lock the flooring member in elevated position, and spring means tending to urge the bar into locking position and hold the catch and locking head in coengagement. y

2. A flooring member adapted to be used in conjunction with a bank vault or the like having a swinging door, such flooring being mounted -to swing upward and away from the vault door and to cover the pi't in which the door swings; a rock shaft upon which such flooring member is mounted to so swing, and locking and releasing means forholding the floor in depressed position and freeing it from such position; said locking and releasing means comprising a locking head upon the flooring member, a catch coperating with said locking head, and ytrip means for `operating said catch; means being provided tending to maintain said catch and locking head in -co-engagement; said last named means comprising a locking bar directly connected with said catch which coperates with said rock shaft, there being locking andreleasing means for maintaining said iooring member in raised position and freeing such flooring member from raised position, and which locking and releasing means include said locking bar and a member operatively connected with said rock shaft.

3. A flooring member adapted to be used in conjunction with a bank vault or the like having a swinging door, such flooringV being mounted to swing upward and away from the vault door and to cover the pit in which the door swings, means upon which such flooring member is mounted to so swing, means to lock the flooring member in depressed position, means to lock the flooring member in elevated position operatively and directly connected with and tending to hold 'the first locking means in looked position, and meansto release the first named locking means. y

4. A flooring member adapted to be used in conjunction with a bank vault or the like having a swinging door, such ooring being mounted to swing upward and away from the vault door and to cover the pit in which the door swings, means upon which such flooring member is mounted to so swing, means to lock the flooring member in depressed position, means to lock the ooring member in elevated position operatively and directly connected with and tending to hold the first locking means in Ylocked position, means to release the iirst named locking means, and means for automatically elevating said flooring member when the first named locking means is released.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my "Witnesses:

WM. H. KRONING, A. C. Loosu.

TroMAs M. BRINTNALL. 

